Do you believe; and why?

[Lucidus]

(05-14-2019, 03:14 PM)fredtoast Wrote: This makes no sense to me.

God orders you to worship him.  If you don't worship him he sends you to hell.  And you think that makes him good?

I think if he was good he would not order you to worship him in the first place.  And even if he did want you to worship him it would not be under the threat of eternal damnation.  There is no need for "salvation" if there is no threat of damnation in the first place.

Indeed. If one is to believe the accounts in the Bible, then God went through quite a strange, overly complicated journey to alter his previous punishment -- coming back to earth in human form, sacrificing his human self to his supernatural self, offering an exemption -- by way of salvation -- to an infinite punishment for a finite crime, which was his own rather abominable prescription in the first place. 

Under the new perimeters, as long as a person is truly remorseful of their wickedness and seeks redemption through Christ, they shall enjoy the fruits of immortality. Even the most vile, evil and completely immoral people can be awarded "paradise" within this framework.

However, a person who leads a compassionate existence, does good deeds for his fellow man and tries to do as little harm as possible -- but simply does not find good reason to believe in or worship this god -- well, they are doomed to eternal torment for eternity.

I ask those that believe in this concept of Heaven and Hell, in what way does this seem equitable or just?